Device for retaining panels

ABSTRACT

A rack for storing at least one panel, comprising a base having a top surface, a rear structure vertically extending from the base, at least one support in at least one of the top surface of the base and the rear structure for supporting the panel in a vertical position, and at least one arm including a connecting member connecting the arm to the rear structure, a retaining member engaging a top edge of the panel to retain the panel in the vertical position, and a flexible portion between the connecting member and the retaining member. A method using the rack defined hereinbefore. Said improved rack and method allow easy access to a desired panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to cases or racks for storing panels,particularly glass panels. The invention also relates to a method forstoring said panels.

2. Background Art

Racks for glass panels usually receive the panels leaning against oneanother in a near-vertical fashion. FIG. 1 illustrates an A-frame andFIG. 2 a L-frame, both of which are well known. When these frames areused with different sized panels, the larger panels are usually placedfirst against the frame, with progressively smaller panels in front.Because the panels are leaning one against another, getting access tothe panels placed at the rear generally involves moving all the panelsin front, which increases manipulation time and effort as well as therisk of damaging one or several panels.

U.S. application Ser. No. 10/798,452 filed Mar. 12, 2004 by theapplicants of the present application discloses a rack for holding suchpanels so as to allow access to any panel without the need to displacethe other panels. The panels are retained in a vertical position by armsextending from a rear structure, and locking mechanisms are used tomaintain the arms in contact with the panels. However, the lockingmechanisms add a level of complexity to accessing the panels, andrepresent movable parts that can require maintenance or repairs.

Accordingly, there is a need for an improved rack for storing panelswhich allows easy access to a desired panel.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide an improvedrack for storing panels.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a rack forstoring panels in which retaining members can be locked in place with asimple locking mechanism.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a method forstoring panels.

Therefore, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided arack for storing at least one panel, comprising a base having a topsurface, a rear structure vertically extending from the base, at leastone support in at least one of the top surface of the base and the rearstructure for supporting the panel in a vertical position, and at leastone arm including a connecting member connecting the arm to the rearstructure, a retaining member engaging a top edge of the panel to retainthe panel in the vertical position, and a flexible portion between theconnecting member and the retaining member.

Further in accordance with the present invention, there is provided amethod for storing a panel within a rack having a base, a rearstructure, and at least one flexible arm extending from the rearstructure over the base, the method comprising the steps of sliding theflexible arm with respect to the rear structure until a first distancebetween a retaining member of the flexible arm and the base is smallerthan a height of the panel, bending the flexible arm about the rearstructure to raise the retaining member until a second distance betweenthe retaining member and the base is greater than the height of thepanel, placing the panel in a vertical position on the base in a supportof the rack aligned with the retaining member, and lowering theretaining member to engage and retain the panel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, showing by wayof illustration a preferred embodiment of the present invention and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a frame for holding panels inaccordance with the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of a second frame for holdingpanels in accordance with the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a rack for holding panels in accordancewith a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective, partially exploded view of an arm and part ofthe rack of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the arm of FIG. 4, in a locked position withouta panel; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of the arm of FIG. 4, showing in plain lines thearm in a locked position prior to engagement to a panel and in brokenlines the arm engaged to the panel.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is an improvement of the rack disclosed in U.S.application Ser. No. 10/798,452 filed Mar. 12, 2004 by the applicants ofthe present application, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Referring to FIG. 3, a preferred embodiment of a rack for holding panels11 such as glass sheets or sealed glass panel units is generallyindicated at 10. The rack 10 comprises a base 12 supported by four (4)vertical posts 14. The vertical posts 14 are preferably tubular membershaving a square cross-section. Loop members 16 are provided under thebase 12 to be engaged by a fork of a lift truck such as to ease thehandling of the rack 10. Two (2) of the vertical posts 14, located atthe rear side of the base 12, support a rear structure 18 extendingvertically from the base 12.

The rear structure 18 comprises first, second and third horizontal bars19,20,21 as well as a vertical plate 28, which all extend between therear vertical posts 14. The horizontal bars 19,20,21 are preferably “L”shaped members. The first horizontal bar 19 extends between the top endsof the vertical posts 14. The vertical plate 28 is sandwiched betweenthe second and third horizontal bars 20,21, with the third horizontalbar 21 being adjacent to a top surface of the base 12. The firsthorizontal bar 19 includes a plurality of slots 22 (see FIG. 4) on abottom side thereof and the second horizontal bar 20 includes aplurality of similar slots 23 on a top surface thereof, the slots 22,23being aligned.

A plurality of parallel horizontal grooves 26 are defined in the topsurface of the base 12. Each horizontal groove 26 extends substantiallyperpendicularly to the rear structure 18. Although each horizontalgroove 26 is preferably sized to receive the bottom edge of a singlepanel 11, it is also considered to have grooves 26 which each receivemore than one panel edge. Parallel vertical grooves 32 are provided on afront surface of the second and third horizontal bars 20,21. Eachvertical groove 32 of the second horizontal bar 20 is aligned with oneof the vertical grooves 32 of the third horizontal bar 21 as well aswith one of the horizontal grooves 26 of the base 12. Although notshown, it is also considered to provide a plurality of parallel verticalgrooves in the vertical plate 28, aligned with the horizontal grooves26. The grooves 26,32 form supports which are designed to receive thepanels 11 in a vertical position, perpendicularly to the rear structure18.

A plurality of vertical bars 40 are also part of the rear structure 18and are received in aligned slots 22,23 of the first and secondhorizontal bars 19,20 such as to extend between the two. The verticalbars 40 and slots 22,23 preferably have a rectangular cross-section,although it is also considered to provide bars 40 and slots 22,23 havinga different cross-section, for example square or circular. Screws 41(see FIG. 4) are engaged to the ends of each vertical bar 40, above thefirst horizontal bar 19 and below the second horizontal bar 20, toretain the vertical bar 40 within the slots 22,23. One flexible arm 24is retained on each vertical bar 40 to extend from the rear structure 18over the base 12. Each arm 24 thus retains at least one of the panels 11in corresponding grooves 26,32 of the rack 10 such as to maintain thepanel 11 within the grooves in a vertical position, as shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 4, each arm 24 comprises a connecting member 43including a slot 45 near a front end thereof to slidably receive thevertical bar 40. An angled member 47 is integral with the front end ofthe connecting member 43 and is downwardly inclined with respectthereto. The angled member 47 is connected to a flexible rod 49extending over the base 12.

A retaining member 51 is slidably received at the free end of theflexible rod 49 and includes on a bottom edge thereof at least onegroove 53 which is designed to engage a top edge of a panel 11 andpreferably the top front corner thereof. When the arm 24 is installed onthe rack 10, the groove 53 is aligned with the corresponding groove 26on the top surface of the base 12 (see FIG. 1). The retaining member 51can be slid to a desired position on the flexible rod 49 and can also beeasily removed and replaced. It is also considered to provide aretaining member 51 having at least two different groove profiles onopposed sides thereof such as to be able to accommodate two differentkinds of panels.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, asillustrated in the drawings, the flexible rod 49 has a rectangularcross-section and the retaining member 51 has a longitudinal openingprovided with a corresponding rectangular cross-section. This selectionis particularly preferred as it allows to prevent said retaining member51 to rotate when only one panel is contacted by one groove 53. Also, ifthe retaining member 51 is provided with other groove(s) of differentprofile (not illustrated) on an other surface of said member 51 (forexample on a surface opposite the one having grooves 53), the selectionof the appropriate grooves may be achieved by merely removing theretaining member 51 from the flexible rod 49 (by sliding toward the freeend of said flexible rod) and replace it on said flexible rod with theselected grooves properly oriented downwardly.

Alternatively, if the flexible rod has a circular cross-section, thenthe retaining member has a longitudinal opening having a correspondingcross-section to allow, by rotating the retaining member 51, to have theappropriate groove profile on the bottom.

Referring to FIG. 5, when not engaged to a panel, the action of gravitycauses the arm 24 to pivot about the vertical bar 40 to be inclinedtoward the base 12, thus being in a locked position at a set height. Theconnecting member 43 is inclined so that a rear end thereof is higherthan the slot 45. This inclination of the connecting member 43 causesthe slot 45 to be angled with respect to the vertical bar 40. The angleof the slot 45 brings the walls thereof in frictional contact with thevertical bar 40, effectively preventing a sliding motion of the arm 24.Thus, the arm 24 is prevented from sliding down under the action ofgravity.

Referring to FIG. 6, the arm 24 is engaged to a panel 11 according tothe following. First, a downward pressure is applied on the rear end ofthe connecting member 43 such as to pivot the arm 24 about the verticalbar 40 to break the frictional contact between the walls of the slot 45and the vertical bar 40. The arm 24 is slid downward until the retainingmember 51 is lower than the height of the panel 11 to be retained. Thearm 24 is then released such as to pivot back to a locked position whichis illustrated by the plain lines in FIG. 6.

Then, the retaining member 51 is elevated with the connecting member 43being maintained at the same height, effectively bending the flexiblerod 49, until the panel can be inserted under the retaining member 51.The retaining member 51 is then released so that the groove 53 (see FIG.4) contains the top edge of the panel 11. The relative height of theretaining member 51 and the connecting member 43 are such that theflexible rod 49 is bent and the connecting member 43 is inclined so thatthe rear end is lower than the slot 45, as is illustrated in brokenlines in FIG. 6. This inclination, like the inclination illustrated inFIG. 5, causes the walls of the slot 45 to be in frictional contact withthe vertical bar 40, effectively preventing a sliding motion of the arm24. Thus, the arm 24 is prevented from sliding up and as sucheffectively retains the panel 11.

Because of the flexibility of the rod 49, the retaining member 51 can beeasily manually lifted to disengage the panel 11 when access to thepanel 11 is required.

Accordingly, the present invention provides for a rack with arms thatretain panels either individually or in small groups. Thus, anindividual panel, or a small group of panels, can be removed from therack by disengaging the corresponding arm, without the need to displaceor access the other panels retained on the rack. The present inventiontherefore allows for easy and selective access to a desired panel, orsmall group of panels, regardless of the number and disposition of theother panels within the rack.

In addition, the present invention provides a rack with arms that can beeasily locked at a desired height when not in use, locked when engaginga panel and unlocked when needed, all of which is done using a simplearm design, without any locking mechanism involving moving parts thatare complex to manipulate and at risk of breaking.

Although in FIG. 3 only a few arms 24 have been illustrated for clarity,it is to be understood that a vertical bar 40 supporting an arm 24 canbe provided for every set of aligned slots 22,23 in the horizontal bars20,21, so that a panel 11 can be retained in every set of correspondinggrooves 26,32.

The elements of the rack 10 are preferably made of metal, with theexception of the flexible rod which is preferably made of fiberglass oranother suitably flexible material, and of the various elements comingin contact with the panels 11, such as the retaining member 51 and thegrooves 26,32, which are preferably made of plastic to minimize the riskof damage to the panels. A preferred plastic is high densitypolyethylene (HDPE).

The grooves 53 may have various shape to fit with the profile of theedge of the panel to be engaged. Alternatively, various kinds of grooves53 may be provided on opposite faces of the retaining member 51.

Additionally, walls can be provided between the vertical posts 14 suchas to obtain a closed structure containing the panels 11. To facilitateaccess to the panels, the front wall should preferably be completelyremovable or hingedly connected to another wall. Also, reinforcingmembers can be provided on the rack, for example supplementaryhorizontal bars extending between the vertical posts 14, according tothe weight of the panels to be transported within the rack.

Although the panels have been described as glass panels, the presentinvention can also be used to stock and transport various types ofpaneling, including, but not limited to, plastic, wood, and metalpanels.

The embodiments of the invention described above are intended to beexemplary. Those skilled in the art will therefore appreciate that theforegoing description is illustrative only, and that variousalternatives and modifications can be devised without departing from thespirit of the present invention. Accordingly, the present is intended toembrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fallwithin the scope of the appended claims.

1. A rack for storing at least one panel, comprising: a base having atop surface; a rear structure vertically extending from the base; atleast one support in at least one of the top surface of the base and therear structure for supporting the panel in a vertical position; and atleast one arm including: a connecting member connecting the arm to therear structure; a retaining member engaging a top edge of the panel toretain the panel in the vertical position; and a flexible portionbetween the connecting member and the retaining member.
 2. The rackaccording to claim 1, wherein the vertical position is substantiallyperpendicular to the rear structure.
 3. The rack according to claim 1,wherein the arm is vertically slidable with respect to the rearstructure.
 4. The rack according to claim 3, wherein the arm can belocked at various heights.
 5. The rack according to claim 1, wherein therear structure includes at least one vertical bar and the connectingmember includes a slot receiving the vertical bar, the slot allowing asliding motion of the connecting member with respect to the vertical barat a first inclination of the connecting member, and the slot providingfrictional contact between walls thereof and the vertical bar at asecond inclination of the connecting member to prevent the slidingmotion and lock the arm at a desired height.
 6. The rack according toclaim 1, wherein the rear structure includes at least two horizontalbars.
 7. The rack according to claim 6, wherein the arm is supportedbetween two of the horizontal bars.
 8. The rack according to claim 1,wherein the at least one support includes at least one horizontal groovein the top surface of the base for receiving a bottom edge of the panel.9. The rack according to claim 8, wherein the at least one horizontalgroove extends substantially perpendicularly to the rear structure. 10.The rack according to claim 1, wherein the at least one support includesat least one vertical groove in the rear structure for receiving a rearedge of the panel.
 11. The rack according to claim 1, wherein the topedge of the panel is engaged in a groove extending along a bottomsurface of the retaining member.
 12. The rack according to claim 1,wherein the panels are glass panels.
 13. The rack according to claim 1,wherein the flexible portion is bent when the retaining member isengaging the top edge of the panel.
 14. A method for storing a panelwithin a rack having a base, a rear structure, and at least one flexiblearm extending from the rear structure over the base, the methodcomprising the steps of: sliding the flexible arm with respect to therear structure until a first distance between a retaining member of theflexible arm and the base is smaller than a height of the panel; bendingthe flexible arm about the rear structure to raise the retaining memberuntil a second distance between the retaining member and the base isgreater than the height of the panel; placing the panel in a verticalposition on the base in a support of the rack aligned with the retainingmember; and lowering the retaining member to engage and retain thepanel.
 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the flexible armremains at least partially bent after the step of lowering the retainingmember.
 16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the flexible armincludes a connecting member with a slot defined therein, the slotslidably receiving a vertical bar of the rear structure, and the step ofsliding the flexible arm includes sliding the connecting member withrespect to the vertical bar.
 17. The method according to claim 16,further comprising a step of locking a height of the flexible arm withrespect to the rear structure by inclining the connecting member tobring walls defining the slot into frictional contact with the verticalbar such as to prevent the sliding of the connecting member.
 18. Themethod according to claim 17, wherein the flexible arm remains at leastpartially bent after the step of lowering the retaining member, forcingthe inclination of the connecting member to lock the flexible armagainst the panel.